A nursing assistant intentionally broke his 98-year-old patient’s leg before she died while undergoing surgery to fix it, police say.

Hakim Ogunkunle, 43, is facing aggravated battery charges for allegedly injuring his patient, Edna Warren, while she was under his care on Tuesday, at the Newnan Health and Rehabilitation in Georgia.

Hakim Ogunkunle

Warren was rushed to the Piedmont Newnan Hospital to have emergency surgery, but died during the procedure.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation believes Ogunkunle caused Warren’s injuries because of a mismatch between the details of his testimony and the severity of her injuries.

‘He gave a preliminary statement about what occurred and it did not match the severity of the injury,’ GBI spokesman Bahan Rich said.

This nurse assistant has a past charge of battery against patients in personal care at a home, hospice, or long term care facility or assisted living, but wasn’t prosecuted

The GBI has noticed more cases of abuse against the elderly in recent years, and Rich says this has come about because more victims have been reporting such crimes.

‘Over the years, we have definitely found that there has been under reporting, but since we started training law enforcement and prosecutors, we’ve noticed that there has been an increase in the number of reports that are made in these cases,’ GBI spokeswoman, Nelly Miles said.

‘This case is just one example of if the case doesn’t get reported, there’s a great chance this person can continue to perpetuate these crimes. That is something that cannot be tolerated,’ Miles said.

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